ElectronicsLaptops

What are the best Chromebooks for college students?

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Lenovo Thinkpad 13 Chromebook vs Asus Chromebook Flip vs Samsung Chromebook Pro

 vs Dell Chromebook 13 vs Toshiba Chromebook 2 vs Acer Chromebook R13 Convertible

Specs

RAM

4GB

CPU

Intel Celeron 3855U

Screen size

13"

Touchscreen

Yes

Screen resolution

1366 x 768 or 1080p

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 510

Storage space

-

Weight

-

Processor

-

Hard Drive

-

Screen

-

RAM

4GB

CPU

Intel Pentium 4405Y – Intel Core m3-6Y30

Screen size

12.5inch

Touchscreen

Yes

Screen resolution

1080p

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 515

Storage space

32-64GB SSD

Weight

-

Processor

-

Hard Drive

-

Screen

-

RAM

-

CPU

-

Screen size

-

Touchscreen

Yes

Screen resolution

-

GPU

-

Storage space

-

Weight

-

Processor

-

Hard Drive

-

Screen

-

RAM

4GB

CPU

Intel Celeron C3855 Processor

Screen size

13.3 inches

Touchscreen

-

Screen resolution

1366x768

GPU

-

Storage space

-

Weight

-

Processor

-

Hard Drive

-

Screen

-

RAM

4 GB RAM

CPU

-

Screen size

-

Touchscreen

-

Screen resolution

-

GPU

-

Storage space

-

Weight

3 lbs

Processor

2.16GHz Intel Celeron N2840

Hard Drive

16 GB SSD

Screen

13.3 inch 1920 x 1080 IPS

RAM

-

CPU

-

Screen size

-

Touchscreen

-

Screen resolution

-

GPU

-

Storage space

-

Weight

-

Processor

-

Hard Drive

-

Screen

-

Pros + Cons

Pro
 Great performance

With 4GB of RAM and an Intel Celeron CPU, the Thinkpad 13 offers pretty good performance for a Chromebook. The RAM allows for some multitasking and the CPU is good enough for most daily activities such as watching videos, editing documents, or browsing the web.
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Pro
 Great build quality

Like most Thinkpads, the Thinkpad 13 feels like a strong and solid piece of hardware. The uniform black design gives it a business-like feel which makes it suitable for formal environments like offices or classrooms.
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Pro
 The battery lasts almost a full day of work

A full battery charge lasts about 8-9 hours which should easily take you through a full day's work.
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Pro
 Great trackpad

The trackpad is very accurate and responsive.
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Pro
 Great for people who type a lot

Most Thinkpads have excellent keyboards and this Chromebook is no exception. The keys are slightly curved inwards to aid typing and there's a nice springiness to them. This makes it easy to type for long uninterrupted periods, making this Chromebook an excellent choice for people who need to type a lot.
Comment

Con
 A little heavier than competitors

At 3.2 pounds it's a bit heavier than most Chromebooks, however, it's still more portable than the average laptop.
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Con
 The default screen is not as good as it should be

The default 1366×768 TN screen has a low resolution and isn’t very bright or color-accurate. Fortunately, for $50 more, you can get the version with an upgraded 1080p screen which has much better brightness and color accuracy.
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Pro
 Great build quality

The whole chassis is made out of sturdy silver aluminium while the lid is covered with a double-layer impact resistant glass. The resistant glass protects the cover from tear and damage which makes the product more durable.
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Pro
 Great performance for a Chromebook

The Chromebook Flip has durable high-quality hardware including a high-end Intel core m3-6Y30 processor and 4GB RAM. This ensures that the Chromebook Flip is far ahead of competitors who mostly use older hardware or smaller RAM.
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Pro
 Good battery life

Battery life averages at 6-7 hours while actively surfing the web and leaving the brightness at 75%, which should be enough for a full day of work on a single charge for most people.
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Pro
 Great display

The Chromebook flip has a great 1080p display with good viewing angles. It's also quite bright at around 300 nits of brightness which makes it a decent choice for working outdoors.
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Pro
 Supports Android apps

The Asus Chromebook Flip supports Android Apps which can be directly installed from the Play Store.
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Con
 Pricey

Good hardware performance, smooth design, and crisp image quality come with a high price-tag, making this Chromebook slightly expensive.
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Con
 Terrible webcam

The plainly bad 0.9-megapixel webcam produces grainy images and leaves some background colors behind and is unable to have a real focus.
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Pro
 Great keyboard

The Chromebook Flip has a backlit keyboard which is a rarity among Chromebooks. The keyboard itself is pretty good as well. The keys have decent travel length and the keyboard feels very comfortable when typing even for long periods of time.
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Pro
 Versatile

Has a firm, 360-degree bendable lid with sturdy, not too wobbly hinges and the 2.5-pound lightweight base makes this Chromebook very portable. You can also turn the screen and use the laptop in three different "standing" modes (laptop, stand, tent, tablet) where the last three modes completely hide the keyboard.
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Pro
 Good touchpad

The touchpad is rather wide (4.1x2.9 inches) and supports multi-finger actions such as: zooming in/out, dragging, etc. The surface is solid and oil resistant, as well. It's also pretty accurate and responsive 99% of the time.
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Pro
 Very portable

It’s very slim and light for a Chromebook (2.38 pounds) which means that you can carry it in a backpack and not even feel it.
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Pro
 High quality display

The display is top notch and has a surprisingly excellent resolution (2400x1600), making the image quality very sharp. Brightness levels on the glossy screen are ideal too. With 400 nits of brightness, it’s even brighter than some powerful full-fledged laptops.
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Pro
 Decent battery life

On a full charge, the battery lasts about 8 or 9 hours of intensive use, even when keeping the screen at 60-80% brightness.
Comment

Pro
 Works well with Android apps

The stylus and the glossy display are ideal for Android apps. The screen makes the games, and other apps look beautiful while the pen allows using apps with a different approach. Google Play Store itself runs without slowdowns; therefore app browsing is quite enjoyable.
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Pro
 Great performance

The Samsung Chromebook Pro is equipped with an Intel Core m3 processor, 32GB of eMMC storage, and 4GB of RAM. That’s plenty of powers for common tasks such as web browsing, editing documents, and multitasking. Most people will probably find the performance that this Chromebook offers adequate.
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Pro
 Stylus support

The pen is small and works with great precision on the display. It can be stored in the device, giving the pen a designated place to stay while not in use. It also doesn't require batteries to use.
Comment

Con
 Audio could be better

The speakers are located on the bottom corners of the laptop and aren’t optimized properly. When used in Laptop mode and placed on a solid surface like a table, the sound mumbles and becomes quiet. It does get better when the Chromebook is positioned in Tent mode, but apart from that sound can be difficult to hear outside the room where the Chromebook is located.
Comment

Con
 Sensitive keyboard

Keys on this keyboard are rubbery and very sensitive which makes it prone to typing errors more often than usual.
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Pro
 Good performance for the price

The Dell Chromebook 13 is probably the best Chromebook as far as price to performance ratio goes. With 4GBs of RAM and an Intel Celeron CPU it should offer more than enough power for most people's day-to-day operation on a laptop. Other Chromebooks at this price usually have smaller memory or a weaker CPU which translates in lower performance.
Comment

Pro
 Relatively good trackpad

The trackpad is very accurate and responsive. Even though it evokes a tapping sound every time you press it, it's because of the material the whole laptop is built in and not the trackpad's fault which overall is pretty good compared to other Chromebooks in this price range.
Comment

Pro
 Spectacular battery life

The Dell Chromebook 13 has amazing battery life. A full charge can last up to 13 hours thanks in part to the relatively low brightness of the screen.
Comment

Con
 The keyboard does not really offer a great typing experience

Overall the keyboard could be better, but for this price it's understandable. The keys are too shallow and don't provide enough feedback when you press them.
Comment

Con
 Low build quality

The chassis is made of plastic that feels rather cheap. The body mostly feels hollow and the plastic starts creaking if you press it with even minimal amount of force.
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Pro
 Great display

The Toshiba Chromebook 2 has a 1080p IPS display. It was the first Chromebook to have a 1080p display actually. This makes it a great choice for watching videos or doing some light graphics work.
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Pro
 Virtually no noise

With the Bay Trail processor the Toshiba Chromebook 2 doesn't need a fan and doesn't have one. This means that the Chromebook makes virtually no noise.
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Pro
 Great performance

The Toshiba Chromebook 2 comes with 4 GB of RAM and a relatively good Intel CPU. This combination provides a higher-than-average performance compared to most Chromebooks which only have 2GB of RAM.
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Con
 Currently no support replacing Chrome OS with Linux

Chromebooks that are using the newer Intel Bay Trail processors (such as the Toshiba Chromebook 2) are still unable to install Linux, replacing Chrome OS on the hard drive due to the imitation of SeaBios lacking support for the eMMC used with said processors. This however does not affect installing Ubuntu through Crouton.
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Con
 Potential screen light bleed

Some users have experienced light bleeding out from their display which is highly visible when watching movies or viewing anything on a dark screen.
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Con
 Storage is not replaceable

The Toshiba Chromebook 2 CB35-B3340 is unable to have its storage replaced as it uses eMMC.
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Con
 Intel Celeron Processor N2840 can be slow and has trouble with 1080p playback

Even though this is one of the newest Chromebooks currently out, the N2840 is slower than other models with older, faster Haswell or i3 processors.
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Pro
 Excellent battery life

The battery lasts an average of 13 hours of simple usage. For intensive use (using apps all day and managing 5- 7 internet browser tabs), the battery a bit faster and only lasts 7 or 8 hours, which should easily take you through a full day's work.
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Pro
 Very portable

R13 weighs just 2.6 pounds. Thus, it's easy to carry it around and to hold it comfortably in one hand, or a small bag won’t be problematic.
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Pro
 Very versatile

The Acer Chromebook R13 is a convertible Chromebook with a 360 degree hinge that lets you rotate the screen and use it as a tablet if the need arises. It's perfectly capable of being used as both a tablet and laptop.
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Pro
 Android app support

R13 is one of the first and few Chromebooks that supports Android apps and allows users to install apps from the Google Play Store.
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Pro
 Good trackpad

The Acer Chromebook R13 has a buttonless touchpad. It responds to user input rather quickly and accurately. The surface of the trackpad is smooth and stays that way even if it’s smeared with fingerprints and sweat after hours of scrolling.
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Pro
 Comfortable design

The sleek silver aluminum front and back panels are smooth and robust. Also, there are no weird or sharply cut angles on the sides that some similar products have, which makes it comfortable to carry around and use.
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Con
 Mediocre performance

Equipped with 4GB’s of RAM and a MediaTek MT8173C processor, the R13 is just not good enough to achieve a good speed for multitasking, tab managing on your browser or playing Android games such as Angry Birds or Clash of Clans without stuttering. Comparing it with other models with Intel core processors this one falls behind by a lot.
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Con
 Sound may disappoint

The computer is not the loudest, and it can barely fill a small room with the volume being on maximum. It does, however, sound okay when watching a quick video or browsing YouTube. Decent headphones or speakers might be required to get a better and louder sound.
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